My 3 Favorite Things About the Holidays
I’m very excited to join some of my favorite bloggers in a Holiday Favorites Collaboration this year. I always love to hear opinions from around the world and I want to thank them so much for including me. Be sure to click each blog and read all of the unique ways these bloggers love the holiday season.
It’s interesting how our holiday traditions have changed over the years and this collaboration had me reflecting on years past. I think the holidays give us a feeling of tradition and family safeness in a time when everything seems to be changing. Even when times were hard, we always felt joyous around the holidays. Regardless of how times have changed and how we have changed, it seems that my favorite things about the holidays have always stayed the same.
1. Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin pie is in a league of its own. The coming of fall and the squash and pumpkin harvest brings time for the best pie, in my opinion. You can have dessert all year round and not think about it but in the autumn nothing sounds as good as a perfect pumpkin pie with whipped cream.
I make pumpkin pies every year, usually for Thanksgiving and Christmas, because it’s easy! Years and years ago, I was making everything from scratch and I made the pie crust. I may have even done it a few times but I remember getting so annoyed one time rolling it out that I swore off ever making crust from scratch. I decided it just wasn't worth the effort. But the filling part is easy, as pie. I always use the recipe on the can of pumpkin and I prefer to use pumpkin pie spice instead of all the separate spices. I’m all about ease.
2. Christmas lights
I love shiny things and I love twinkling lights. I’ve always loved the glow of the Christmas lights on the white crystalline snow. It’s a warm, magical feeling to see twinkling lights in the dark. I love when a lot of people decorate their houses in a neighborhood, it’s a sense of community, like a warm gesture for your neighbor.
For as long as I can remember, we would pile in the car and drive over to the fancy part of town to see the light show. Reno is the biggest city I have ever lived in and my Aunt would take us to see some unbelievable neighborhoods with every square inch covered in lights and whole Christmas villages built on the front lawn. Now we have made it another Christmas tradition to buy a trolley ticket and ride around town looking at lights.
3. Shopping
Shopping is one of my favorite activities all year round but Christmas gives me a reason to shop and it’s the only time of year that it’s okay to spend hours and hours in search of the perfect gift. Shops are all decorated and they have music playing. There is a hustle and bustle around the holidays that you don’t get any other time of year. Just knowing that everyone is out shopping for gifts makes everyone a little more cheerful. There are always special items that only come for the holidays and sales that encourage you to buy more. I’m not going to lie, I do have trouble not buying for myself. It’s the hardest thing every year because I find so much cute stuff and I want it all. But I’m always reminded that it is the season of giving, and I have so much to be thankful for already. And although I love shopping so much, many of the best received gifts I’ve given were homemade or baked goods.
I hope you will have a happy holiday season and appreciate your favorite things about this time of year. The holidays can be hard for some. We have lost people we love and, as I said earlier, traditions change but we can always be grateful for what we have. There is such a good feeling when you give a gift but really just time spent with someone can be the most important thing. What is your favorite way to spend the holidays?
